Energy Regionalism in Theory and Practice: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Abstract

Due to the use of energy in regions and regionalism contexts began in the 20th century, the concept of energy regionalism has emerged as a new and significant field of study. This paper, which analyses the SCO established on an energy region in the post-Cold War period within the context of energy regionalism, will theoretically contribute to the literature by both theoretically explaining the concept of energy regionalism through utilising different evaluations of the concept and examining the SCO as a pioneering case in the energy regionalism context. The paper hypotheses that energy issues constitute the most significant agenda among the partners of the SCO and that an energy region has been established through the agency of the organisation. In this paper, the SCO has been analysed within the context of energy regionalism based on Hancock’s three criteria: driving forces, institutional structuring, and the effects of the decisions made and the activities carried out on energy regionalism. The analysis concludes that the SCO can be considered a comprehensive model of energy regionalism within the aforementioned three criteria.